Red Soil

In Farid Bentoumi’s second feature, a young nurse locks horns with big business over a chemical leak.

Sami Bouajila

Red Soil, the second feature to have been directed by the French-Algerian actor Farid Bentoumi, was selected for the 2020 Cannes Film Festival. Even though in the event that festival would be cancelled due to the pandemic, to have had his film accepted was obviously an achievement in itself. It is significant too that this particular project had earned the backing of those notable filmmakers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne who are credited as co-producers. Given that background, one would expect Red Soil to be a good film and it is certainly not a bad one. There are, though, elements that prevent it from being as memorable as one might have hoped.

The film's central problem is that it covers ground already well traversed in cinema. The sense of familiarity rather takes the edge off things however worthy the theme of the piece remains. Based on a real-life incident, Red Soil is concerned with a chemical plant in the south of France which was responsible for causing pollution through the dumping of toxic waste. Such reprehensible procedures uncovered only through the endeavours of whistleblowers have featured in a number of films of which the most famous is probably 2000’s Erin Brockovich. Admittedly, Bentoumi as the chief writer here has at least found a fresh approach to this theme. He does so by making his two central characters a father, Slimane Hamadi (Sami Bouajila), and his daughter, Nour (Zita Hanrot).

When the film opens Nour, a nurse, is working in a hospital but a misjudgment has serious consequences and she loses her job. To make up for this, her father finds a post for her at the plant. He himself has worked there for 29 years and is the workers’ representative and he persuades the boss (Olivier Gourmet) to appoint Nour as a replacement for the on-site medical adviser. It is when checking the health of the workers that Nour discovers evidence of major health hazards having existed in the period when, many years ago, waste had been dumped in what is now a closed zone referred to as the lake. Furthermore, Nour comes to believe that the new disposal scheme in a quarry is no better and she is won over by the concerns of a local freelance journalist (Céline Salliette) who is seeking to get at the truth before the company running the plant is given approval to continue its work.

Most tales of this kind build on an intense conflict between the heroic exposer and some company official who is clearly identifiable as the out-and-out villain of the piece. The strength of Red Soil lies in Bentoumi’s decision to make Nour’s opponent her own father and to present him as someone who means well and is aware of the extent to which the local community is dependent on the plant for employment. He genuinely believes that to expose the company’s illegalities would lead to a closure that would have devastating consequences for his family and friends and, indeed, for all the inhabitants. When he declares that dogs don’t bite the hand that feeds them, you recognise the error of his outlook but you understand it too.

Red Soil has the advantage of talented payers with both Zita Hanrot and Sami Bouajila doing very well indeed in the two central roles. However, quite apart from the plot pivot not being new, the film does suffer from two other weaknesses. One stems from the writing in that the climax in which Nour in quest of proof positive breaks in to find evidence is so easily accomplished that it fails to carry conviction. The other is technical in that the film favours abrupt editing which impedes the sense of natural flow, an approach for which Bentoumi himself must surely take responsibility. Overall, however, this is highly watchable and those who find the theme important enough not to mind the fact that we have been here before will certainly applaud.

Original title: Rouge.

MANSEL STIMPSON

Cast: Zita Hanrot, Sami Bouajila, Céline Salliette, Olivier Gourmet, Henri-Noël Tabary, Alka Balbir, Thierry Rousset, Laurent Crozet, Evelyne Cervera, Thierry Simon, Maxime Bodolec, Matthieu Loos, Driss Ramdi.

Dir Farid Bentoumi, Pro Frédéric Jouve, Screenplay Farid Bentoumi with Samuel Doux, Audrey Fouché and Gaëlle Macé, Ph Georges Lechaptois, Pro Des David Faivre, Ed Damien Kayeux, Music Pierre Desprats, Costumes Caroline Spieth.

Les Films Velvet/Les Films du Fleuve/Auvergne Rhône-Alpes Cinéma/Canal+/Ciné+-Signature Entertainment.
86 mins. France/Belgium. 2020. Rel: 22 October 2021. Available on Amazon Prime.  Cert. 12.